You are here

Mammoth gets new Assistant Fire Chief

Frievalt comes from Sparks

It didn’t take long for fireman Frank Frievalt to spring into action.

Less than 12 hours after he was introduced to the Mammoth Town Council as the fire district’s new assistant chief, the former Sparks operations chief was spotted along some businesses on Old Mammoth Road.

Dressed in his Mammoth Fire District uniform, Frievalt was engaged in explaining why some water systems were on the blink, and to be aware that some sprinkler systems might not be up to snuff.

The cause, he theorized, might have been frozen pipes as a result of the cold, zero-degree temperatures lately.

It was, business people said, reassuring to see the new man in action.

Fire Chief Brent Harper brought Frievalt to the force after interviewing 14 applicants in an attempt to mitigate the loss of two division chiefs, who retired earlier this year.

He said Frievalt has worked in federal, state, and local government fire service organizations, most recently as the Division Chief of Operations for Sparks Fire Department in Nevada.

Frievalt earned an associate degree in Fire Science in 1986, a bachelor’s degree in Fire Administration in 1999 and a master’s degree in Fire and Emergency Management in 2004.

Currently, he is finishing his doctoral studies in public policy and public administration at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“I was the most happy when I saw the ice rink going up, though,” he said to the council. “I’m a hockey man.”

He comes to town with his wife, Debbie (herself a former wildland Helitak and Hotshot firefighter).

The couple has two children, Kyle, 21, recently a specialist with the 25th Infantry Division, who just finished a tour serving in northern Iraq; and Miranda, 18, a high school senior who manages the Washoe County regional JROTC Honor Guard. Frievalt said she enjoys school, photography, and competitive mixed martial arts, recently winning her first amateur bout.